Status Updates From Selected Hemingway Stories:...

24. Untitled Milan Story ** written in 1918 but not published until the Hemingway Library Edition of [The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway] (2017). A roman à clef story featuring Hemingway’s proxy Nick Adams who is in hospital after being wounded in World War I. He is lying in his hospital bed and examining the medals he received.

23. Judgment of Manitou ** Juvenilia. This was Hemingway’s first published story, written in 1916 when he was a high school student, not published until the Hemingway Library Edition of [The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway] (2017). Two hunters fall prey to the forces of nature and their own poor judgment.

22. The Strange Country ** not published until [The Complete…] (1987). This was an abandoned start to what later became the posthumously published novel [Islands in the Stream] (1970). It doesn’t involve sea-faring adventures but is instead about a road trip with characters named Roger & Helena who might be Hemingway & Gellhorn. The “strange country” is a euphemism for the couple’s sexual experience.

21. Great News from the Mainland ** not published until [The Complete…] (1987). There is a major windstorm in Cuba which destroys many crops and trees. The narrator phones America where his son is undergoing various injections and shock treatments at a clinic for an undefined condition. The son says he is doing fine. Again this is a possible roman à clef about Hemingway’s son Gregory.

20. I Guess Everything Reminds You of Something not published until [The Complete…] (1987). A roman à clef story about the son of a writer who is a fine shooter at the local gun club, but who also plagiarizes a story for a school project which the narrator discovers many years later. “Stevie” is a stand-in for Hemingway’s son Gregory and the story reflects on their estrangement later in life.

19. Landscape with Figures not published until [The Complete…] (1987). This was a further Spanish Civil War story along with #6-#9. Edwin Henry is with his film crew at a partially demolished house overlooking an assault scene. There is also a British & American journalist with them. The Brit is attracting enemy fire. A possible roman à clef, as the American journalist could be based on Martha Gellhorn.

18. Black Ass at the Cross Roads ** not published until [The Complete…] (1987), a further World War 2 story along with #1-#3 following a group of mixed French & American irregulars during the reconquest of France. They are set up to ambush German retreaters at a crossroads but are also robbing the dead. The “Captain” is in a “black ass” mood about it, which is Hemingway’s term for depression.

17. The Porter not published until [The Complete…] (1987) as in #16, this is part of the unfinished 1927-28 Jimmy Breen novel. While his father sleeps, Jimmy spends time with “George,” the porter on the train. NOTE: “George” is a racist all-purpose name used for train porters, which is not explained in the story. See They Call Me George: The Untold Story of The Black Train Porters (2019) a.o.

16. A Train Trip *** not published until [The Complete…] (1987), was part of an unfinished novel from 1927-28 centering on the coming of age of a boy named Jimmy Breen. In this story, Jimmy and his father are on a train bound for Chicago and later for Canada. On the train are 2 captured criminals who are handcuffed to 2 policemen. This is very much in early Hemingway style sometimes described as Lardneresque.

15. An African Story *** an excerpt from the posthumous novel [The Garden of Eden] (1986) also published in [The Complete…] (1987). The young David Bourne tells the story about the hunting of an elephant with his father and a tracker guide in Africa. This is one of the stories that the older David would be writing during the novel.

14. A Man of the World ** first published in The Atlantic Monthly (December 10, 1957) then in [The Complete…] (1987). An old blind man Blindy travels between bars digging or begging for change at slot machines. A bartender tells the story of how Blacky was blinded in a fight and now only answers to Blindy.

13. Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog ** first published in The Atlantic Monthly (December 10, 1957) then in [The Complete…] (1987). A recently blinded man and his caregiver wife are reminiscing about their lives, but he keeps thinking that she should leave him.

12. The Faithful Bull ** Children’s story first published in Holiday magazine (March 1951), then in [The Complete…] (1987). A fighting bull is put out to breed but is faithful to only a single cow. He is then sent to die in the bull ring as punishment for his faithfulness. A very odd story for children?

11. The Good Lion ** Children’s story first published in Holiday magazine (March 1951), then in [The Complete…] (1987). The good lion is not a carnivore but eats pasta instead. With the wings on his back he flies to Venice to escape the bad lions.

10. Nobody Ever Dies ** not published until [The Complete…] (1987). A Cuban revolution story. A wounded man named Enrique is hiding out in a safe house and is assisted by Maria. They flee when police arrive. Maria is defiant as she is arrested by security forces.

9. Under the Ridge *** first published in Cosmopolitan (1939), later collected in [The Fifth Column…] (1969) and [The Complete…] (1987). Continuing the Spanish Civil War stories. Edwin Henry views the aftermath of a losing battle. He views the Russian battle police shoot one of the men that was attempting to desert and hears another such story. Henry returns to his hotel in despair about the war.

8. Night Before Battle *** first published in Esquire (January, 1939), later collected in [The Fifth Column…] (1969) and [The Complete…] (1987). During the Spanish Civil War, Edwin Henry returns from filming a failed assault to Chicote’s Bar and meets Al, a friend who is a tank division commander. They go to the hotel and then to a restaurant. Al is convinced that he will die in the following day’s assault.

7. The Butterfly and the Tank **** first published in Esquire (December, 1938), later collected in [The Fifth Column…] (1969) and [The Complete…] (1987). At Chicote’s bar during the Spanish Civil War, Edwin Henry is having drinks when a foolish man enters and starts spraying the waiters with an insecticide spray gun as a joke. The waiters and patrons are annoyed by this and the man is beaten up and killed.

6. The Denunciation **** first published in Esquire (November, 1938), later collected in [The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War] (1969) and [The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway] (1987). In Chicote’s bar in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, an American journalist Edwin Henry recognizes a fascist spy and advises the waiter to phone the Seguridad to denounce him for arrest.

5. The Tradesman’s Return *** first published in Esquire (1936) later part of the novel [To Have and Have Not] (1937). Harry Morgan & Wesley (who is maybe the baitman from #4) are running illegal liquor from Cuba to America but are caught in a shootout with the Coast Guard and wounded. Heading to Key West they meet Willie’s fishing charter with 2 American officials on board who are suspicious of Harry’s boat.

4. One Trip Across *** first published in Cosmopolitan (1934) later part of the novel [To Have and Have Not] (1937). Charter fishing boat captain Harry Morgan is cheated by his client and is stranded in Cuba. He turns to crime and ferrying contraband and illegals, but things turn desperate as he betrays his own clients. Horribly dated due to constant use of the n word while referring to the boat's baitman.